This presentation provides an essential foundation for
those researching Jewish ancestors who once lived in the former Russian Empire.
At the time of the 1897 census, the Russian Empire held the third largest
population of the world, covered one sixth of the world’s landmass, and
included modern day Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, most of Lithuania, Estonia and
Latvia, a large portion of Poland, and more.

Kahlile will help you understand the historical
context, become acquainted with the best sources for genealogical research, the
arrangement of records in an archive, options to acquire information from the
sources, identify and use archival collections, and use the Internet to help do
research.

Additionally, Kahlile will provide an update of what
East European images have been made available on FamilySearch. FamilySearch, a
service provided by LDS Family History, is the most heavily used free access genealogy
site on the Internet with over 2 billion searchable names and more than 450
million digital images of historical documents.

Kahlile
Mehr, MA, MLS, AG, has over thirty years experience working LDS Family History.
Currently he is the manager of the Slavic Collection. He has visited archives
throughout Eastern Europe. He has published twenty-three articles and a book on
family and local history topics. He was the primary author for Tracing your Jewish Ancestors From the
United States to Europe, 1850-1930 that can be downloaded from the FamilySearch
website. He serves on the boards of the International Association of Jewish
Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) and the Federation of East European Family
History Societies (FEEFHS).

Kahlile
will present to the group from Salt Lake City, Utah live via Skype. Whether
beginner or expert in researching your Jewish family history, this is the
meeting for you. Additionally, we will hold a raffle for a free one-year
membership to GenealogyBank, the largest newspaper archive for family history
research. Don’t miss out!

ADMISSION:
Open to the public. $5.00 for non-members.
Free for members.

About the Jewish Genealogical Society of
Greater Orlando

The
Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando (JGSGO) is a not for profit
organization dedicated to sharing genealogical information, techniques and
research tools with anyone interested in Jewish genealogy and family history.
Anyone may join JGSGO. Annual dues are $25 for an individual and $30 for a
family. For more information visit our blog at www.jgsgo.blogspot.com .

Jewish headstone
inscriptions and burial records can provide crucial information to
genealogists. Hebrew name inscriptions, based on patronymics, can link
together two generations of Hebrew names unlike any other source
document. This can be especially helpful when trying to link first
generation American ancestors to their European families.

Nolan
Altman, JewishGen’s Vice President for Data Acquisition and coordinator for
their JOWBR (JewishGen’s Online Worldwide Burial Registry) and Memorial Plaque
databases, will explain the importance of Jewish cemetery records.
Through photographic examples and case studies, you will see what information
and symbols are found on stones and how the information can help to create your
family tree.

Nolan
Altman was bit by the “genealogy bug” when he was inspired to write his family
history in 1996 in memory of his mother. After making use of the valuable
information on JewishGen, he volunteered to do data entry on various projects.In time, he was asked to become the
Coordinator for JewishGen’s Holocaust Database and subsequently the Coordinator
for the JOWBR project. Nolan works with volunteers from around the world
helping to grow both databases for the benefit of family members and researchers.Nolan’s current focus is on growing the
JOWBR and Holocaust databases.

Nolan
has made various presentations and conducted computer workshops at the IAJGS
(International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies) annual conferences
in Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. He
continues to present his “How to Document and Research Your Family History”
seminar to adult and continuing education classes as well as university
Holocaust and European history classes.
He has published articles in Avotaynu,
Dorot, Stammbaum, Shemot and the
FEEFHS Journal. He is on the Board of the IAJGS and is the
President of the JGS of Long Island, where he coordinates their Yearbook,
Cemetery, and Memorial Plaque Projects. Nolan is also a member of the JGS of
New York.

This
will be the JGSGO’s first evening meeting at the Southwest Orlando Jewish
Congregation. New location, new time, great program! Nolan Altman is the expert
in his field and this information can help you “cross the pond” and more. Nolan
will present to the group from New York live via Skype. If you ever thought
about starting on your family history research journey, this is the meeting for
you. Don’t miss out!

The
Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando (JGSGO) is a not for profit
organization dedicated to sharing genealogical information, techniques and
research tools with anyone interested in Jewish genealogy and family history.
There is no charge to attend the meeting.
Anyone may join JGSGO. Annual dues are $25 for an individual and $30 for
a family. For more information visit our blog at www.jgsgo.blogspot.com .